Five surefire ways to ruin a networking meeting

Networking is the most powerful tool you have to advance your career, and becoming aware of what makes a good networking meeting will serve you well.

The ability to give and receive information cuts across levels in an organization. It’s often what distinguishes successful careers, and that’s why developing your relationship-building skills is crucial to the health of your career.

Ideally, networking should occur consistently when you are in career-growth mode and when you are job searching. People often reserve networking for when they most need it instead of making it a part of their daily interactions. Learning how to make the most of your networking meetings will not only benefit your career but the careers of those around you.

If you have participated in networking at all, you probably have met people who are very good networkers and seem to understand the relationship-building concept as well as people who struggle with it.

Here’s the good news: You can control how you approach networking by building awareness of what makes a good meeting and what could mess up a great opportunity.

Here are five surefire ways to ruin a networking meeting:

1. Having no purpose for the meeting. You plan a meeting then just wing the conversation with no practice ahead of time. This approach will leave you with a conversation but no real exchange of information.

2. Doing all the talking. Networking is built on two communication principles — giving and receiving. In order to network, you have to listen part of the time. It’s very difficult to develop rapport when the conversation is a one-way street.

3. Failing to ask for what you need. Assuming people can read your mind and know you need help leads to disappointment and networking fatigue.

4. Lack of interest in the other person. While it might seem obvious that you should show interest in the person you’re meeting with, it’s mind-boggling how many networkers leave a meeting without knowing anything new about the other person’s background. Do you struggle with this one? Try this: Find out three things you didn’t know about the person before you leave meeting.

5. Leaving without asking what you can do to help the person you’ve just met with. The power of networking lies in the exchange of communication. Be aware of the part you play in making a meeting memorable. Don’t minimize the significance of what you can give back. This simple gesture means more than you know to the other person.